Insights That Will Make You Happier…Hopefully!
I’m a huge fan of podcasts. Listening to them forms part of my daily routine and I get many of my insights from them. I typically list my favourite podcasts, but this time I thought I’d list some of my favourite specific episodes. These may give you a springboard to enjoy the rest of the episodes of those podcasts. So here they are for this year (episode name first, followed by podcast name): Continue reading “My 23 Favourite Podcast Episodes So Far This Year”
I’ve worked in so many teams over the years – sometimes as a team member and sometimes as the team leader. I’d love to say that these teams were super high-performing ones, but I’m afraid they were not.
How do I know this? Well, according to Patrick Lencioni, teams suffer from 5 dysfunctions: they lack trust, fear conflict, lack commitment to decisions, avoid holding each other to account and not paying attention to team results. In that light, I think most my teams have been dysfunctional even the ones I have lead. Continue reading “Why Most Teams Are Dysfunctional and How To Fix It (5 min read)”
After my blog on What I Tell Young Researchers, a friend of mine suggested I add the annual shareholder letters of Warren Buffet * (Berkshire Hathaway), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan) to my recommended readings. I read their latest letters and my friend could not have been more right. This trio of leaders talk about bureaucracy, high standards and the dangers of debt: Continue reading “What Buffet, Bezos and Dimon Told Me About Being Successful”
Deciphering China’s AI Dream An Oxford University study that systematically compares the state of AI in China vs the US. Punch-line “China’s AI capabilities are about half of those of America”
Huawei Probe Adds to U.S.-China Trade Tension Ahead of Talks The real trade war is happening in the tech sector as the US probes ZTE and Huawei – big Chinese tech companies. See President Xi’s response in next article.
Xi’s Speech at the Work Conference for Cybersecurity and Informatization . Well worth a read. China is desperate to become self-sufficient in tech hardware and not rely on the US or others. Continue reading “22 China Stories That Caught My Eye”
I loved it – Avengers: Infinity Wars, that is. It somehow manages to carry thirty Marvel heroes, has some excellent and humorous pairings of characters and has a meaningful storyline. Best of all, it also has a metaphysical angle. Thanos, the villain, clearly has a God-thing going on, the fate of the universe itself is at stake and we deal with ultimate good and evil. Continue reading “Avengers Infinity War Revelation About God (SPOILER FREE)”
James Comey, the former director of the FBI, recently published his account of working under the Trump administration in the book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership”. It’s the second high-profile book of the workings of the Trump administration – the other being Michael Wolf’s “Fire and Fury”. That was revealing in parts, and Comey’s book is also revealing, though not in the way many reviewers have focused on. Continue reading “The James Comey Book – Be Afraid, Very Afraid (6 min read)”
I’m constantly scouring the web for good material to read and here’s my latest curated list:
Life Inside China’s Social Credit Laboratory Yikes. China has started to quantify people’s trustworthiness based on their “behaviour”. They then get a social credit score which determines their movements and services they can access. Continue reading “21 Must-Read Articles From Around the Web From Blockchain Bubbles to Chinese Values”
Having been a researcher for many many years, I’ve picked up lots of useful tips and tricks to produce good research. Most I’ve been given by others, so I equally like to share everything I’ve learned to all the newbies in my research team. Below is the list I give (and it can useful for non-researchers too): Continue reading “What I Tell Young Researchers (3 min read)”
Wabi-Sabi is NOT wasabi – the green splodge that you get with sushi and sends a shock wave up your sinuses. Instead, wabi-sabi is the Japanese concept of beauty in imperfection. Continue reading “Imperfecting Your Wabi-Sabi”
In today’s world, especially in Western Europe, religion can often be viewed negatively. Religion is thought of as irrational, polarising and not equipped for the modern world. Yet for many around the world, religion remains central to their lives. Whatever one’s thoughts about religion, what is true is that religion has survived in various guises for thousands of years and across hundreds of cultures today. Given this, there must be something within religions that provide time-tested practical benefits to people. From my exposure to various multiple religions, I’ve identified 5 practises that all religions seem to share and persists to this day. One could call these the 5 “eternal” life hacks…. Continue reading “5 Life Hacks From Religion”